just wanted to start this thread on my dive adventures diving O'ahu. I'll update this thread when I actually have some ability to catch fish. I apologize in advance if my stories pale in comparison to the other diving legendson this forum.

so my first report with pics is my adventure diving the south-side of O'ahu. Conditions were PERFECT, winds= light and variable,sun shining bright, no current, no chop. 40' vis. We started our swim out and w/in 10 mins, I saw this big thing on the bottom change color. I said to myself "WTF is that?". Dove down and realized it was a tako (he'e in Hawaiian, gamson in Chamorro) and its the biggest one i've seen so far in my diving.it saw me coming and hid in a hole but it was game over from there. I proceeded to "tickle the tako" with my shaft and grabbed it as it shot out of its hole, ink blowing everywhere. I made it to the surface shaking the hell out of it to stun it, i debated whether to bite it betweenits eyes to crack the skull and kill it or use my knife. I decided for the latter since I didn't want it to rip off my mask and snorkel. Dispatched it and put it on the kui (stringer). Missed a couple shots the rest of the dive day but oh well, got meat for dinner.

Dove last week with a couple of the boys on the south east side again. Conditions were less than favorable, 10-20mph winds, strong ass current,strong chop, 15' vis. Anyways, started off slow for me with me missing shots on a couple uhus (parrotfish). I figured I'd check some ledges/shelves formenpachi but forgot to grab my 3 prong from my float so had my gun when I dropped down. When i landed on the bottom, i gathered myself and looked in the hole and sawthis fat ala'ihi cruising inside. Pointed my roller at it and stoned it. After that managed to catch two tako when i was scouting other grounds. Funny story with the tako, I figured i'd bite it to kill it. I ended up mistiming it and idk what happened but when i bit down, one of the eyeballs popped off in my mouth, the legs grabbed my mask and snorkel. Got pissed off, grabbed my knife, and brained him. All in all a good day. Dive safe guys!

Nice Takos!!! What's your favorite way to prepare them? I bought some smoked tako from the aloha swap meet the last time I was down there and it was so yummy I had my buddies pick me up some the last time they were there.

Thanks guys! I wish I had the space and equipment to make smoke tako otherwise I'd be doing strictly tako dives! Lol.I got three favorite ways so far: kelaguen gåmson (octopus kelaguen), spicy kimchee tako poke, and fried tako (with panko). I always boil them in beer for at least an hour to tenderize it and give it some good flavor.

just wanted to share a photo of my kelaguen gamson (octopus kelaguen), its a Chamorro dish commonly served with titiyas (flour tortillas) at parties and as a chesa' (chasers). I finally had some time tonight to make some for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

finally got some time in the water today after about two weeks back from xmas break in Guam. I could definitely feel it as my breath hold and bottom time was nowhere near where I wanted it to be.

My friend called me about two days ago saying his neighbor is hooked on diving and bought a 12' inflatable zodi.I said "hell yeah!" We launched out around 8:30am this morning looking for a calm spot as O'ahu has been experiencingsome huge north swell and some nasty winds. Temps dropped to around 55 degrees the other day (freezing for island boys). Found a spot my friend knew about and was around 20' vis but still slightly murky, made my depth perception totally off.

I dove down, looked at my dive watch and it read forty feet! I thought I was hunting in 25'. haha. Anyways, first drop I checked a ledge and saw some kumu's cruising around. I backed up a long ways because I only brought by Abellan Denton 120 with me that dayand hell no am I getting my shaft stuck down there. I managed to pick off the biggest one of the group and made my way back up. Therewere some more kumu's still yet over there only needed one for me so I didn't take anymore (kumu's are highly sought after and very pressuredfrom fishing and diving, we usually try to self-regulate in how much we take so we don't rape the reef). Moved spots after the zodi owner wantedto hit some shallower spots.

The next spot we hit was a reef that was hugging a channel. Vis was espresso milky and water was cold. I was freezing my ass off in my 1.5mm Spetton suit.I opted to hunt the edge of the channel by diving to 30' and crawling down, sloping into the darker areas. I saw a couple uhu's (parrotfish) in the distance and couldn't call em in on the first dive. I felt some grumbling in my stomach as I didn't take my ritual pre-dive poop that morning. So i headed a LONG ways off frommy partners and dropped a load in the water. hahaha. The diving and breath hold definitely got better from there on. I went back to my previous spot and right when I got to the bottom around 30' I saw a blue fantail in the distance. I put my head down, dusted sand, and scratched some rocks. The blue started rushing in saw my head and then turned broadside. I took around a 15' shot that hit right in the gill plate. SOLID!

I got some food for me and my gf now and all in all turned out to be a pretty good day for me and my buddies. I'll post some pics of how I prepare these fish when I get around to it.

Went out on a zodi dive again yesterday with the boys.Finally got a nice day of weather this week cuz it's been raining,Voggy, and just unpleasant.

Anyways, we hit our first spot and within the first five minutes I see a really nice moano kali (or simply referred to as kali). I was using my AD 120 with the stock salvimar shaft. The stock salvi shaft has virtually no overhang from the muzzlethis makes it hard to instinctively aim. I took a shot on the kali and hit it high on the back. As I went to recover it, he wiggled off and darted between my legs! Lol. Slippery bastard. I resurfaced and loaded only 1 band to check the hole. I descended and found the hole, shot it mid body and tried to take it out. It turns out I was in a wrestling match with a puhi (eel). I tried grabbing the kali with my hands in excitement but couldn't nudge it from the eel's mouth. No luck.Unfortunately the eel won that day. I'll upload the vid of that fiasco soon.

So I decided to check the edge of the channel for some mu's (bigeye emperor) and uku's (jobfish).I descended to 50' and immediately put my head down and starting dusting sand. I lifted my head up and saw a silver silhouette come in and saw it was a bar jack. I tracked it for a couple seconds and fed it some steel.This link should work to view the vid.

The eels will always win. I once played tug a war with a green moray he had my spiny lobster by the tail (best part) and I had the head - 2-3 times I pulled out - he pulled back into the hole before I said " what the frick am I doing" and let go. Be careful and keep posting.

So had a last second dive in out on the westside of o'ahu today. Needed to get a dive in before the winds picked up this weekend 15-30mph. Didn't take into account it was a full moon, which means ripping current.

Anyways, jumped in with my dive buddy chase at almost 4pm, late start. We were both eager to shoot some fish since I've been dry for about 2 weeks. We headed out to the ledge and tried unsuccessfully to bring in the mu's (bigeye emperor) those guys will test your limits. Started to head in after not seeing anything out at the ledge. We were about to call it a dive when we found a fish pile in 20' if water by the surge zone.

I dropped down and took aim on a small red uhu (parrotfish), told myself wait it out and see what else comes in. Saw a pananu (star eyed parrotfish, best tasting of the parrotfish) come in. I was using my pathos laser open pro carbon and midfield it to use 2 9/16" bands and a 6.75mm shaft so I can target smaller game without blasting my shaft in reef like my abellan. The pathos was dead accurate and the new hammerhead sharkfin shaft seemed like a good balance with the thinner bands. Kick was minimal, shaft went where I pointed on instinct.

Same spot about 5 minutes later, I took a drop just to see what comes in, then a kumu (white saddle goatfish, endemic to hawaii) come right in front of my shaft, took an easy shot and spined it, this is going to be steamed Chinese style with hot peanut oil this weekend .

Final drop of the day, was hiding behind a coral head, nothing came in so I peered above and saw this blue whiptail uhu come in. A little out of range, so I had to make a lunging shot to secure it. Going to probably stuff this the Hawaii way with lup cheong, mayo, Portuguese sausage, and onions for a party tomorrow.

Went out with 3 of the boys a couple days ago for a shore dive. The area we went usually has fish but it's quite a walk to get to the place. I brought the abellan out cuz I knew the place held some mu's. Unfortunately, they didn't wanna come to play.

Current and surf picked up when we were diving for about an hour. Couldn't breathe up too well and eventually got sick out there. That was a beeyotch. Anyways, managed to pick up a knife jaw, which is a little rare to find in Oahu, and a to'au (black tail snapper). At least came home with some fish to sash and fry. Happy diving!

God it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I finally caught my first legit Mu or big eye emperor. Divers out here in Hawaii and in the pacific target these fish for its awesome table fare and the challenge of shooting it. Mu tend to play with your heart and emotions as they just sit out of range of most of the reef guns. They usually travel in packs and are very wary, usually with the smaller mu being the recon team and the big boys watching from afar. Successful divers, not me lol, usually have to have extreme bottom time to call these guys in for a shot. Anyways heres's the report.

So we headed out with Joe and Moises on his zodi on the east side of Oahu to check out some spots they scouted the past couple of weeks. These guys are my usual weekend dive crew and I felt bad for not joining them for about a month due to family being in town. Anyways, I was feeling pretty shitty that morning from the "festivities" the night before. I was slightly seasick and hung over for most of the dive. We stopped at the first spot in the shallows around 20-25' with none of us seeing any huge fish besides the 3 tako (octopus) that I picked up.

Moved to another spot where joe stoned this huge awa (milkfish) with me and Mo messing around trying to dive bomb mu's, we were unsuccessful. Lol. I picked up a couple more tako and was pretty happy with my catch so far considering I was seasick and puking the whole time. Joe and I saw a school of mu and tried unsuccessfully to call them in when I saw a Galapagos shark and gave Joe the shark signal. He headed back to the zodi and I followed. Mo was sticking around the mu school and told me to go try again while he moves the zodi.

I usually bring my abellan denton 120 using it's max range setup with 2 400%stretch 16mm bands and a 7.5mm shaft. I switched it to a lighter setup so I can target other fish without burying my shaft (1 16mm @350%, 1 14mm @375% stretch and a 7mm pathos shaft).

I saw the mu school from the surface and found a crack in the reef to hide. I made my way to a vantage point and just put my head down and waited. I slowly lifted my head to see the school coming in and saw the biggest one come in. I was running out of air and lined up on it. I ended up shooting it right in the stone zone but the shaft didn't penetrate all the way, it was the weirdest sight to see the mu just spazzing out doing backflips then going to a crack to die in. My heart was racing as I've lost mu before due to ripping off. I was at the surface frantically trying to re-rig my gun when I saw the entire school literally under me not caring about me at the surface but just staring at their dead brother! I was at a crossroads, leave the dead mu and try to dive bomb another one in the school or go and secure the mu I already shot. I opted for the latter as I didn't want to risk it and possibly risking the mu waking up and disappearing. Plus, I didn't want to be overly ambitious and jinx myself. So I loaded the 16mm band on the rest tab, went and descended slowly to the mu and placed a solid shot in its face. I was soo stoked to finally get my first legit sized mu!